Utilizing the arts as a key foundational element in education is more critical today then ever before. In an everchanging climate of innovation and technology, educational systems are expected to focus on life skillsets, as well as, mastery of content. It can be a struggle to keep up with the growing demands of skillsets needed in the work force today if we continue with traditional methods of instruction. According to the Department of Labor the number one reason people are unemployable or unable to keep employment is due to the lack of soft skills and the ability to problem solve. Utilizing arts programming as a vehicle for instruction can provide the solution for addressing both of these weak areas in our schools today. According to Susan Sclafani, US Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education in the US Department of Education, “Our old factory model of school won’t prepare young people for employment that expects them not only to have a positive work ethic, to get to work on time, to be there and do what’s right – but also to be analytical, to be problem solvers, to use technology and be able to communicate in oral and written form.” Strategic and effective arts programming can serve as a vehicle to teach soft skills, problem solving, and other much needed skills to be today’s innovator in tomorrow’s workforce.

Stating what some would consider to be the obvious, is necessary when writing an article on the importance of arts in education. That being the link between data and improved academic performance. A 2002 report by the Arts Education Partnership revealed that students exposed to the arts are more often proficient in reading, writing, and math. At the time, this was the first report of its kind. Researchers used this data to look at the positive impact of the arts on academic performance. A follow up study was conducted in 2010 documenting the same results. In 2006 the Guggenheim Museum, study on art education revealed a link between arts education and literacy skills. In 2009, The Center for Arts Education published a report linking arts programming to improved graduation rates.

Through the exploration of music, dance, theatre, painting, sculpting, and designing students utilize their creative mind to engage their analytical mind. Utilizing the arts as a vehicle for academic instruction allows the student to create, analyze, make meaning and connections – then re-create, analyze, make meaning and connections – and repeat again. In doing so, they arrive at this special place of understanding where learned information is retained through an experience.

Many art forms require collaboration to arrive at a final product. The participants work together, share responsibility, negotiate, compromise, and learn various leadership skills through the process of creation. For example, if mounting a spring musical is the vehicle for collaboration, the producer, stage director, musical director, and design team members will all need to collaborate effectively to produce a successful musical production. The team members will be expected to contribute expertise, share concepts/ideas, meet timelines and deadlines, produce product in their given area, and release ownership over some of their “good” ideas and adopt someone else’s “better” ideas for the greater good of the production. They will receive positive and negative feedback from their peers in an effort to improve, outcomes will be measured for success, and future work on musical productions will be dependent upon the overall success of their contributions to the creative team on the current musical production. Sound familiar?  This process is not unlike most leadership teams in the professional arena. The soft skills and problem-solving abilities needed to serve on a top performing leadership team in a professional setting are the same. The above description of mounting a musical production is similar to many other collaborative settings in the arts arena.

The arts in general provide us with the opportunity to develop many academic and professional skills needed to be successful in the world today. Research shows that arts programming in schools improves academic performance and creates a collaborative environment similar to many professional settings. In short, education without art is simply school.  According to Albert Einstein, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”  I would conclude, art IS education.